What equipment do you use?

Have questions about the equipment used for macro- or micro- photography? Post those questions in this forum.

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twebster
Posts: 442
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:02 am
Location: Phoenix "Valley of the Sun", Arizona, USA

What equipment do you use?

Post by twebster »

Hi y'all, :D

I thought it might be useful for some of our members and for some of our visitors to get an idea of the equipment we use for the different forms of photography we produce. Our equipment lists don't have to be limited to just macro or micro photography. Many of us perform different types of photography in addition to macro or micro photography. Since this is my idea, I'll lead off first. :D

Landscape Photography...

Canon EOS Rebel XT dSLR with a Really Right Stuff L-bracket attached.
Canon BG-E3 battery/vertical grip for handheld photography.
Canon EF 17-40mm F 4L zoom lens.
Contax/Carl Zeiss 35-70mm f 3.4 zoom lens with Contax to Canon EF adapter.
Canon EF 70-200 f 4L zoom lens.
Really Right Stuff BH-40 ball head.
Velbon El Carmagne 630A carbon fiber tripod.
Acratech #1117 Leveling Base.

Macro Photography...

Canon EOS 20D dSLR camera.
Canon BG-E2 battery/vertical camera grip.
Canon EF 100mm f 2.8 macro lens.
Canon EF 70-200 f 4L zoom lens.
Canon EF 300mm f 4L non-IS lens.
Canon 550ex flash.
Kirk Enterprises macro flash bracket.
Nikon 3T and 4T diopter lenses.
Canon extension tubes, 12mm, 25mm.
Really Right Stuff BH-40 ball head.
Velbon El Carmagne 630A carbon fiber tripod.
Acratech #1117 Leveling Base.

Avian and Wildlife Photography...

Canon EOS 1D Mark II dSLR camera.
Canon EOS 20D dSLR.
Canon BG-E2 battery/vertical camera grip.
Canon EF 500mm f 4L IS telephoto lens.
Canon EF 300mm f 4L non-IS lens.
Canon EF 1.4x II teleconverter.
Canon EF 2x II teleconverter.
Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head.
Wimberly Sidekick gimbel mount.
Gitzo 1325 carbon fiber tripod.

That's my equipment list and I'm sticking with it :!: :D

(30 December 2006...This list has been edited to reflect equipment changes as my needs have changed.)
Last edited by twebster on Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:19 am, edited 3 times in total.
Tom Webster

Phoenix "The Valley of the Sun", Arizona, USA

The worst day photographing dragonflies is better than the best day working! :)

Mike B in OKlahoma
Posts: 1048
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:32 pm
Location: Oklahoma City

Post by Mike B in OKlahoma »

I've not sat and listed this all out at once before in a long time, if ever....Tom, you've reminded me that I have too much photo stuff!

Cameras

Canon 1Ds “old” original version from WAAAAY back in 2002

Canon EOS 10D (almost never used now)



Wildlife lenses

300/2.8 IS with teleconverters (heavy)

100-400 IS (traveling light)



Landscape lenses

16-35

24-105 IS

70-200/4

45mm TSE

90mm TSE

20mm (never used now, but has cosmetic damage that makes it unsalable, so I keep it)

Sigma 14mm (seldom used now, but was a fine ultrawide lens when I used the EOS 10D)

135mm Soft Focus (Bought used for a deal “too good to pass up”, but almost never used)



Macro lenses

MP-E-65

180mm

90mm TSE with teleconverters and/or extension tubes

300/4 IS (wonderful for dragonflies and butterflies) with teleconverters and/or Canon 500D

Kenko extension tubes (used when the 100-400 is pressed into macro, it doesn’t “like” the 500D)



Tripods

Gitzo 1325 (heavy)

Feisol 3301-N

Gitzo 1058 (ultralight)

El Cheapo TRIKON tripod used as a flash stand


Ballheads

RRS BH-55 matched with the g1325

Acratech Ultimate Ballhead (which is unsatisfactory and about to be replaced by an RRS BH-40) matched with the Feisol

RRS BH-25 matched with the G1058



Flashes

Canon 580EX

Canon 550EX

Canon MT-24EX



I will mix and match on a hike or especially a photo trip—For example in October I am going to Italy and Slovenia, so I will take the 16-35, 100-400, 45mm TSE, and 1.4 teleconverter and extension tubes for most “nature” shooting (it will involve significant hiking), and the 24-105 for tourist-type shooting. The other lenses will stay home. For a lightweight telephoto lens, I keep shifting allegiances between the 300/4 IS and the 100-400L, but the 100-400L is on top now.
Mike Broderick
Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Constructive critiques of my pictures, and reposts in this forum for purposes of critique are welcome

"I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul....My mandate includes weird bugs."
--Calvin

salden
Posts: 1363
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:40 pm
Location: Pennsylvania
Contact:

Post by salden »

I am not as organized as you guys :lol:

Canon D60 and 20D bodies

Canon 100-400L IS USM
Canon 28-135L IS
Canon 100mm Macro 2.8
Canon 50mm 1.8
Caon 70-200L IS USM

Canon 550EX Flash Unit

Sekonic L358 Light Meter
Numerous closeup filters
Kenko Extension Tubes

Manifotto Tripod
Flash Bracket
Refectors/Deflector disks
Softbox
Omnibounce
Sue Alden

Epidic
Posts: 137
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:06 pm
Location: Maine

Post by Epidic »

The three most important pieces of equipment are my eyes, heart, and mind. No offence to the reason Tom posted this thread as it can be educational, but for folks who start in photography tend to have the idea it is the equipment that take the pictures, it is not. Yes, folks have been taking pictures for a long time tend to have a lot of stuff, but a list does not indicate what is used, how it is use, nor how often - how much of our gear protects our furniture from dust. All the work in my first book which was exibited in the US and Japan was made with one camera, one lens, and a light meter - I had a pile of gear stored at home.

Macro and micro photography presents unique technical challenges and so requires special equuipment. But the priciples of good photography are the same reqardless of the magnification. Those are in the photographer and not the gear.

Buy the best equipment you can afford, but buy want you need, not what you what. Then go and learn how to use it.
Will

Mike B in OKlahoma
Posts: 1048
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:32 pm
Location: Oklahoma City

Post by Mike B in OKlahoma »

Will, I agree with your statement, but like many photographers, I can't help obsessing over equipment sometimes. But you're correct, Galen Rowell with a point-and-shoot would have outshot me with my DSLR and a backpack full of equipment.
Mike Broderick
Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Constructive critiques of my pictures, and reposts in this forum for purposes of critique are welcome

"I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul....My mandate includes weird bugs."
--Calvin

salden
Posts: 1363
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:40 pm
Location: Pennsylvania
Contact:

Post by salden »

I also agree, but I need all my equipment. Well, maybe not all, but most of it. Doing photography as a business has its "must haves", and then there is my hobby (Macro) and those are my "wants" :lol:
Sue Alden

Ken Ramos
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

Some very good thoughts here and something for me especially to ponder since I am just returning to photography. I won't make a list of what I have, there is not enough equipment to say "grace" over but I am thankful for what I have. :wink:

mowse
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Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:11 pm
Location: Redmond, WA
Contact:

Post by mowse »

My "camera bag" is more like "santa's sack"...

Cameras
Canon 20D
Canon Powershot SD30 P&S
Canon ELAN-II (35mm)
Olympus Stylus Epic P&S (35mm)
Minolta Maxxum 650si (35mm)
Rolleiflex TLR Model 4 Xenar f/3.5 (6x6)
Rolleiflex TLR Model 2.8C Tessar f/2.8 (6x6)

Lenses
Canon EF 24mm f/2.8
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro
Canon EF 70-200mm f4.0L IS USM
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM
Sigma 24mm f/2.8 AF Super Wide
Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX DG APO HSM
Minolta AF 35-105 (field paperweight)
Tamron 90mm f/2.5 SP AF
Tamron 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6

Adapters
Kenko Pro 300 Teleplus 1.4x
Kenko Pro DG Extension Tubes

Light
Canon 420EX Speedlight
Off-shoe cables and releases
Pentax Digital Spotmeter

Filters
Circular polarizers
Circular blue-gold filter
Cokin [] filter set

Support
Light: Manfrotto 694 magfiber monopod w/3229 swivel-tilt head
Macro: Manfrotto 3021B Pro with 486RC2 ballhead
Heavy: Gitzo 1325 carbon fiber tripod w/Kirk King Cobra Action Head

Additional Support
The entire cast of children from Idiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, including "Short Round", to haul my gear. Sometimes, i bring that big ugly guy with the whip, just in case there's an uprising...

As for "purpose", I like to mix it up a bit...

While my gear covers various focal lengths across three "formats", I don't limit my use a particular lens for a specific task. Realistically, I load up my kit based on where i'm headed and how far i'll be hauling gear. Quite obviously, the 500mm lens is well suited for wildlife, but might find itself used for an isolated landscape shot. The 70-200 f/4 is great for landscapes or short-range wildlife shots, but works equally as well for dragonflies when coupled with extension tubes. My 24mm lenses are ideal for landscape work, but can be coupled also with extension tubes for closeup work, providing interesting perspective. The 100mm f/2.8 macro lens is a real workhorse. While it excels at 1:1 close-up work, it serves as a fantastic portrait lens, a light and capable walkabout lens, and a capable landscape lens when isolating objects. Seeing the pattern? Objective: cover a wide band of focal lengths across desired formats, efficiently, with high quality glass. Pick up a solid teleconverter and some compatible extension tubes. For each situation, you'll certainly have multiple options for capturing the shot you wish to create.

-jamie

DaveW
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:29 am
Location: Nottingham, UK

Post by DaveW »

Afraid I am a pruner when I change cameras. This is very infrequent and I never need to own more than one camera at a time so the previous gear is sold to pay for the new! With digital, due to the fact you no longer need to have more than one camera in order to use different films as in the past, needing to just switch the ISO dial and alter a few settings, it is even harder to justify carting around more than a single camera, or even owning more than one to my mind.

Therefore my old Nikon F2 Photomic and lenses, bellows, reversing rings etc that were not appropriate for the new digital camera were dispensed with as soon as the new camera and lenses came in order to recoup some of the cost. Luckily I do not abuse my equipment so it all sold as mint and got the best prices. The F2 Photomic sold as a classic camera after 35 years use fo 25% more than I originally paid for it (not counting inflation of course)

I am still building up my present kit which at present is:-

Nikon D200

Micro Nikkor 60mm f2.8D AF

Micro Nikkor 70mm-180mm f4.5-f5.6D AF

Nikon PB6 bellows

Nikon extension tubes PK-11A, PK-12, PK-13

Nikon MC-30 remote release

Vintec dual axis focusing slide

Manfrotto twin flash bracket

Gossen Lunasix F ambient light and flash meter

Benbo Mk 1 tripod

Of course the usual gadget bags to lug it around plus the usual bits and bobs like flash leads, flash slave and a hotshoe bubble spirit level!

I have still yet to sort out my remaining flash guns and filters etc as the flash guns are not dedicated and the filters are now the wrong size, so these will no doubt need disposing of soon.

Agreed, you can do macro work with a limited range of equipment, as no doubt we have all done in the past. Decent equipment just makes life a little easier.

DaveW

Moebius
Posts: 284
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:53 am
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
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Post by Moebius »

Yikes! Hope this newfound macro obsession of mine doesn't set me back as much financially as it did you guys. At the moment, I just have the following. This next year I will be getting a Gitzo G2220 tripod and some sort of better lighting (mt-24 and mr-14 are leading candidates)

Macro setup for 2005
Panasonic FZ20
Nikon 6T

This setup worked just fine...used onboard flash. However, the grass is always greener, so...

Macro setup for 2006
Canon 30D
Sigma 150mm Macro
Sigma 500 flash
Omnibounce
Lumiquest softbox
Kenko extension tubes (haven't used)
monopod

only other lens at the moment is the 18-55mm kit lens

Ken Nelson

Erland R.N.
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Location: Kolding, Denmark
Contact:

Post by Erland R.N. »

When shooting macro, mostly dragonflies I use:

Canon 5D (previously used 10D and before that 500N)

Sigma 180/3.5 and now also Sigma 150/2.8. Kind of swap between these lenses from day to day, to keep them both happy :-) Never bring both with me at the same time.

Use a Kenko 1.4x 300 pro converter, for more magnification or longer reach. Rarely use my Sigma 2x converter, it's harder to use but can yield excellent results.

Rarely use my Sigma 140 ring flash. But it works fine, I just like not to use flash.

Very important for me is to always have my gear mounted on a monopod and a ballhead.
Manfrotto 680B monopod and a 486 head.

Erland

Danny
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Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:07 pm
Location: New Zealand

Post by Danny »

"What equipment do you use?"

Anything that ain't nailed down M8t. if it is nailed down, I take a macro of just the rust on the nail head :roll:

Well you know me only too well Tom, anything from a magnifying glass to a 100mm macro and bellows, to 70-210 in front of either the FZ10 or the Sony CD-1000.............and a combination of everything all at once :lol: , I'm not fussy as long as it works :wink: .

All the best cobber :D

Danny
Worry about the image that comes out of the box, rather than the box itself.

DaveW
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:29 am
Location: Nottingham, UK

Post by DaveW »

It is a simple fact of life that the more equipment you have the less most of it gets used! No doubt we all could usefully turn some of our kit into money to buy something we would use more!

Some people are always buyers, but never sellers and will hoard every piece of photo equipment they have ever bought since they first started instead of recycling its value before it depreciates too far.

DaveW

Danny
Posts: 725
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:07 pm
Location: New Zealand

Post by Danny »

With all that gorgeous Nikkor stuff Dave, you never got into or was tempted by the medical lenses at all ???. Just curious because at the time I was using Canon and was very tempted by that particular series of lenses by Nikkor. Expensive at the time though.

Danny.
Worry about the image that comes out of the box, rather than the box itself.

DaveW
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:29 am
Location: Nottingham, UK

Post by DaveW »

To tell you the truth Danny I am not sure if Nikon still do that medical lens with the built in ring light. I will have to look it up. Obviously, ring lights are tending to go out of favour for a lot of macro work due to lack of modelling, replaced by the twin macro flash type set-up's of Canon, Nikon and no doubt others.

I would think the Medical nikkor was rather specialised and not too flexible for use outside the parameters it was designed for. No doubt you would get the same effect with a Canon macro lens and ring light. I suppose it was just for the convenience of Dentists and the medical profession the lens was developed for. I did read of one medical practitioner photographing operations who used a ring light and the now discontinued 70-180 micro nikkor zoom as being more flexible,

Like most firms, I think the accountants are taking over at Nikon and slow selling lenses are often being phased out because they cannot keep up with demand for more popular items. Given the rate many established camera companies have gone under due to the electronics firms flooding in to manufacture the modern computers with lenses we now call cameras, I think most of the traditional makers will have to rationalise their ranges to stay in business, problem is some of our macro stuff is hardly mainstream.

DaveW

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